Welcome to My World
by Jins Lil Whirlwind
Summary: How Hiei and Kurama became friends. Hiei has just entered Human World and still doesn't know much about it. He's also just met Kurama and helped him beat Eight Hands. NONYAOI
1. Chapter 1

**Heya! This one is set right after Hiei and Kurama met in the manga (when Kurama rescued Maya Kitajima from Eight Hands). I make no promises on how often it will be updated. Everyone who reads my fics knows that I may update 3 chapters in one night or I may leave it hangin' for 6 months. Why do you think I've been called Whirlwind since kindergarten? ;-)**

**I own nothing. Enjoy!**

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Suichi Minamino pulled a comb through his short, red hair. 

"Suichi, you're going to be late!"

"Coming!" he called to his mother who was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. He grabbed the dark blue jacket that went to his school uniform and jammed one arm in. He started to put the other arm in but dead froze instead.

Something was watching him.

He stood, not moving, looking around. He strained his senses to catch any trace of what might be spying on him, but he couldn't detect anything.

Outside his window something caught his eye. He thought he saw something move! He darted to the window to see what was there but it was too late. Whatever had been there was long gone. The only evidence that anything had been there at all was the gentle vibration of a tree branch. It was shaking too much to have been a bird or a squirrel.

He slid his arm down into its sleeve and reached for the window lock. He thought maybe he could catch the scent of whatever had been there. Just as he touched the lock-

"Suichi! You have a test today! You can't be tardy!"

He jumped when Shiori's voice sounded. Whatever this was it would have to wait. He grabbed his bookbag and bounded down the stairs.

A few minutes later he was in the car with his mother. As she backed out of the driveway he spared a glance back at the tree.

There was something there!

The leaves shielded it from full view, but there was definitely something in that tree! All Suichi could tell for sure was there was lots of black...

He couldn't see the two red eyes staring back at him with curiosity...

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**My usual short intro. Gettin' used to those outta me, huh? I'm still workin' with an on-screen keyboard till my new one comes so it's hard to do anything long yet. But, tell me what you think of the intro! **  



	2. Hn

**I toldya there might be multiple chapter uploads in a single night! LOL I just started this fic a couple hours ago and there's already a chappie 2! Dontcha just love sugar-rushes? And remember, this is on-screen keyboarded and I'm makin' it up as I go. I'm so proud of me! I kinda had to start this one. Looking back over my other fics, I just realized that I've NEVER had Hiei in one! Just a mild mention here and there, but he's never actually BEEN THERE. I gotta pick on him!  
**

**I own nothing. Enjoy!**

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"I hope she's going to be alright," Suichi heard a girl say as he walked into class. 

"Yeah. She'll be fine. They think she was just dehydrated or some junk like that," a boy answered her.

"Still, fainting on your way home from school is a big deal!" the girl said.

"Yeah, just passing out in your yard!" another boy said.

Suichi went to his seat and tried to stay out of the conversation as much as he could. He was still pretty tired from that fight with Eight Hands yesterday.

After he and the demon thief, Hiei, had defeated Eight Hands, he had used Dream Pollen to put Maya to sleep as well as erase her memories of the event. He had put her and her books in her backyard, arranged to look as if she'd been going out there to play after she got out of school. When she was found the assumption was that she had collapsed as a result of dehydration. She'd be back in school tomorrow, none the wiser about her classmate's after school activities...

His thoughts drifted to Hiei. He'd just disappeared when all was said and done, but Suichi had a feeling that he hadn't seen the last of him. He hoped that the next time they met it was under nicer circumstances.

The day droned on. Everyone was abuzz about Maya. The test was too easy. The lunchroom food was stale. The other boys glared at him. The girls giggled and stared at him...

'_Finally!'_

The day was over. For the first time since he could remember, Suichi beat the other kids out the main doors. He took a shortcut through the park.

_'I am in desperate need of a bed! If not for that test I wouldn't have gone to school today...huh?'_

He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and suddenly remembered the incident this morning.

_'It looked like a...well... it looked like a flying shadow...'_

"Show yourself," the redhead demanded.

"..."

"I said show yourself."

"..."

"You may as well come out. I know you're there."

"..."

"I'm hardly in the mood for a game of hide and seek." Kurama hoped this thing would come out. He was too tired to chase it.

"..."

The redhead tapped his foot impatiently and stared at the branches with a very perturbed expression. "Either you come down or I'll bring you down."

"...Hn."

"Hiei?"

"Hn."

"What are you doing here?"

"Trying to take a nap."

"Multiple syllable answer? We're getting somewhere," Kurama grinned.

"Hn."

"Or not."

"..."

"That was you outside my window this morning wasn't it?"

"Hn."

"I thought so. No one else would wear that much black in broad daylight in the middle of our recent heatwave."

"..."

"Any particular reason you were there?"

"..."

"I guess I'll be on my way then." Kurama started to walk away.

"...Maybe."

Kurama stopped and looked back to the tree. A black shadow came to the ground. The next thing Kurama knew, there stood Hiei, leaning against the base of the tree, arms folded across his chest. He was pointedly looking off into space. '_God forbid he should have to make eye contact when he isn't entirely in control of a situation.'_

"I came here in search of something, but I no longer have any reason to believe it's here. I should be heading back to Demon World... But..."

Hiei looked like he was thinking over his words very carefully, like the ones he had chosen just weren't going to cut it. Kurama noticed the look in his eyes and the way his lower jaw was tensing. He forced back the urge to chuckle. This poor fellow had likely never asked for help in his life, and having to ask it now? The words just didn't want to make it out of his mouth. Kurama knew he could have waited around to watch him suffer a little humility, but he wasn't like that anymore. He decided to spare Hiei.

He knew what information Hiei needed. He volunteered it so that Hiei wouldn't need to ask him. "I don't know of a way to get back to Demon World. Not without risking being trapped. The holes in Pseudo Space are few and far between, and even when one does open, their stability is never guaranteed."

"That's all I needed to know." A flash of black and Hiei was gone.

"You're welcome," Kurama said to himself. He grinned a little as he shoved his hands into his pockets and resumed his walk home.

He once again had that gut feeling that he and his new "friend" had not seen the last of each other...

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**The more reviews I get the cuter Hiei's gonna act!...don't tell him I said that... I've tortured the fox enough. Shawty's turn:-D**


	3. Dressup

Suichi rolled over and slapped at his alarm clock.

'_Ten minutes before Mother gets home from work...'_

The redhead climbed out of bed, still a bit groggy, and clumsily made his way to his desk. He opened one of his school text books and stared at it blankly, not fully aware of which one it even was. He heard the car pull in the drive and his mother coming up the stairs.

Shiori opened the door of her son's bedroom. "Suichi? How did you do on your test today?"

"I think I did rather well. We won't get the grades until Monday, though."

"And already studying for the next, I see," she smiled, looking down at the open book.

Suichi nodded and smiled in return.

"But you'll ruin your eyes in this dim light," she said, noticing that the only light in Suichi's room was from his desk lamp. She flipped on the room light. "Do you need anything, dear?"

It was then that Suichi's eyes widened. "No, I'm fine, but are you feeling well, Mother?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You look a bit pale. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Just a touch of a cold. Don't worry."

"If you say so..." Suichi was not convinced.

"I'm certain it will clear up in a few days..."

**Elsewhere, in a tree....**

Hiei looked up at the clouds in the sky.

_'Rain. Again... Joy...'_ Hiei rolled his eyes and settled in to take a nap before the rain started. He thought for a second of looking for a bridge to sleep under, but remembering last time, he dismissed the idea. Human thugs had a habit of showing up in places like that, and he did NOT want to draw more attention to himself.

_'This world is getting old...fast...'_

**The next morning... **

Suichi had nearly finished his breakfast when...

_**Crash!**_

He jumped and looked to the sound of breaking glass.

"Oh, look how clumsy I am," Shiori said, looking at the pile of glass that was formerly her measuring cup. She started to clean it up, but Suichi was already at her side before she could make a move, sweeping up the glass with a dish towel and dustpan. Shiori saw the way he was looking at her. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me."

"Mother, I think you should lie down. You look tired," Suichi said, clearly more concerned about the woman than some glass.

Though she was shaking and pale, she forced one of those smiles that Suichi had come to love. "I'm fine, but, if you insist," she said. She didn't want to, but that look on his face... She simply couldn't make him worry more.

After a long nap, Shiori swore she was feeling better, and went out with her boyfriend for lunch. Suichi decided not to go, even though he'd been offered. He had other things to tend to.

Something strange was going on outside, and Kurama wanted to know what....

_'The sentry has caught something. I wonder what demon is still brave enough to tread near here...'_

Kurama stopped in his backyard and stood, dumbfounded, staring at the sentry plant he'd left to guard the back of the house. It had indeed caught something.

"Hiei?!"

"Is this YOUR doing, Fox?" Hiei growled and wrestled with the vines that were holding him, upside-down, in the air.

"I planted these to protect the house in case a stray demon tried something while I was away." Kurama could do nothing but blink at the strange scene before him. "They attack anything that emits demon energy."

"Grrrrr, would you stop explaining and call this thing off?"

"Of course," Kurama said, still wearing a stupefied expression. With a wave of his hand, the plant dropped Hiei. Not expecting the release to come so soon, Hiei didn't have time to correct himself in the air, and landed flat on his face.

"Dammit, Fox, a little warning next time?"

"Sorry. Anyway, what were you doing out here? Need something?"

"I came for that," Hiei said, pointing at the sakura tree in Kurama's yard.

"You like cherry blossoms?" Kurama was getting more confused by the minute.

"Grrrr... I was looking for a place I wouldn't get soaked the next time it rained. That tree is full of blossoms. I thought they'd be enough to block out most of it."

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?"

Hiei glared at the redhead until his temperature started to rise, causing steam to rise out of his soaked black cloak.

_'Steaming mad?'_ Kurama thought. Then he noticed the cloak. It was torn and frayed all over. Some of it from battles-gone-by, some from the plant that had given him a "hug" upon his arrival at the Minamino house. "Is that the only outfit you own?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Don't you think it makes you stand out in Living World?"

Hiei stared back at Kurama....

"Come with me..." Kurama led the smaller demon into the house and up to his room. He then started digging in the bottom of his closet. "I know they're here somewhere... Aha!" He came out with a box. He plopped it down in the floor in front of the dirty, slightly-wet demon and opened it up.

Kurama started pulling clothes out the box and holding them up to a very confused Hiei. "Hmm. This one looks a bit long, maybeeee.... this one," he said, holding up a different shirt to Hiei.

"What are you doing?"

"Finding something to dress you in."

"Dress me? What do I look like? A child's doll?" Hiei growled.

Kurama sighed. "You'll draw attention to yourself looking like that. Just try this on," Kurama said, as he plopped a pair of jeans and a button-up shirt into the demon's hands and shoved him into the bathroom in the other side of his room.

Hiei stared at the clothing, and wondered how, exactly, he'd gotten into this. He turned over the pants, then the shirt, looking them over. Then he sniffed them. He couldn't quite picture himself dressing like one of these humans.

But, Kurama was right about one thing. He'd be less noticeable if he were dressed like one of them. That meant he could move more freely around the Human World. "Hn. What the hell?" he shrugged and started pulling them on...


End file.
